The football season is FINALLY upon us. I'm sitting here on a Saturday morning in SEC country watching Georgia struggle a little with Buffalo. Before the game they talked about high expectations and winning the SEC's weaker division. Georgia is a team that in my opinion has been overrated the last 5 years or so. They seem to pop up in the Top 10 at the beginning of the year and they lose some games they shouldn't.
I start with that to say that the Ducks also have high expectations. As game day has drawn closer I've seen comments go from "Oregon should mop the floor with cupcake Arky St." to "This game will be closer than people think."
We have a young team and a few question marks. A QB that has never taken a snap and is just a Freshman. A WR corp that seems like it should have a breakout but hasn't. A TE phenom who seems to have some troubles. We don't know what, just that he's had some "things to take care of." A secondary who started as freshman and have a year under their belt now. Another pair of freshman (Arik Armstead, Byron Marshall) who could prove to be the future of the program on O and D.
3 straight Pac titles and 3 straight BCS bowl games place the Ducks in the top tier of college football. Being there is one thing, staying is another.
Here's what I want to see today.
1 - I do want to see a blow out. If we want to be an elite program we need to not slip up when playing these lower rated teams. I don't care if they have a few studs who may make some plays, but we should be able to handle this team.
2 - I want to see how Marcus runs the read option plays. The spring game was great, but we really didn't run our offense, plus it was touch football on the QB. I don't think Marcus needs to carry 25 times for 100 yards or anything. But I always felt like Darron should have kept the ball 4-6 more times than he did.
3 - I want to see Marcus throw to the TE's a bit. Lyerla, Brown, Koa - all young guys, I want to see what they are made of. A TE with great hands and no fear of a crossing route can make a young QB feel very comfortable.
4 - I want to see 1 of our WR's really step up and become a go to guy that people fear. As good as Jeff Maehl was and as much as we all loved him and his work ethic he was not a #1 draft pick that struck fear in the hearts of Defenses. That is what I want.
5 - This one is key. There has been a lot of talk about our defense. I want them to really shut down Arky ST. I don't want them to score in the 1st half of this game. If we rotate a bunch in the 4th QTR and they score some that is not a big deal. I want to see our D shut this team down, completely.
Not sure at this point whether this will go my way, we do have plenty of time with soft opponents and home games to get everything to gel. But we have some questions and I'm hoping they are answered quickly. I don't wan to waltz down to USC in November still wondering who will step up and WR and whether or not our TE position will be consistent.
My Prediction - Ducks 66 - Red Wolves - 13
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